Topical items and views on the impact of digitisation on publishing and its content and the issues that make the news. This blog follows the report 'Brave New World',
(http://www.ewidgetsonline.com/vcil/bravenewworld.html ), published by the Booksellers Association of the UK and Ireland and authored by Martyn Daniels. The views and comments expressed are those of the author.

Monday, July 07, 2014

Do Bookshops Have A 2020 Vision?

We have all read about the decline of the independent bookstores
in the UK and US. However, we have also seen the relaunch of Foyles in
Charing Cross, the expansion of the Hatchards brand by
Waterstones to St Pancras, the growth online of the bargain bookseller, The
Works. So what is the future of the Bookstore and does it have a vision of
itself in 2020, or is its vision somewhat out of focus and requiring both short
and long sighted correction?

Stanley Unwin once said that, ‘To write books is easy, it requires only
pen and ink and the ever-patient paper. To print books is a little more
difficult, because genius so often rejoices in illegible handwriting. To read
books is more difficult still, because of a tendency to go to sleep. But the
most difficult task of all that a mortal man can embark on is to sell a book.’

Today more than ever before that quote reflects the significant changes and challenges facing booksellers.Some would say that
the question of what is sold, is as important as that of how it is sold.

Today many continue
to sell not just a narrow range dictated by their physical square footage, but
a range focused purely on the new or only available through the publisher. It’s
as if they haven’t read what it says above the door and have ignored the word ‘bookseller’
and replace it with ‘new books only seller’. Books are books and the consumer
doesn’t grab a book and turn immediately to the copyright page and look as to
when the book was published, so why do so many bookstore restrict themselves? In
a market that over produces both in titles and quantity, there are many mint
condition ‘bargains’ to be stocked from outside the traditional publisher channel.
They may not have the ‘sale or return’ safety net, but they also can be often
acquired at a fraction of the price. One of the salient lessons we should have learnt
by now from the likes of Amazon, is that consumers want to buy new, old, rare, bargain
and used books and to do so from one place where they can seen the full range.

A recent article in
The
Economist looked to the future design of the bookshop and asked four firms
of architects and designers to create the bookshop of their dreams and in doing
so reinvent it for tomorrow. The designers looked at many aspects and even
covered the sale of used and digital books and using the space to sell
lifestyle, create theatre and host events. It is worth a read.

However, they
started from the premise that the hub was the bookshop and everything revolved
around the book. Is that how we should look at it, or is the book merely part
of a larger proposition based around a wider lifestyle offer? This obviously
raises the question of range both in terms of width and depth. We have seen
many acclaimed bookshops which have narrowed their offer to appeal to a segment
of the market, but how many of these have actually complimented their book
offer with a full range of products that appeal to that same segment? Does the
cookery shop sell cookery product and books, or books and cookery product? Does
the children’s bookshop sell toys, children’s clothes, prams etc. alongside
books, or books alongside childrens’ product? Ex Borders UK head, Phil Downer
has made his Calliope
gift shop one that sells gifts which include books and in doing so he is
able to cross sell and merchandise and adjust his offer to suit the market.
Will books be a major or a minor element in years to come will depend on many
factors, but ultimately it should reflect consumer demand.

The coffee shop
within the bookstore is often a very good earner per square foot and creates
lifestyle and greater selling opportunities. It is claimed that our obsession
with coffee houses is going to grow by a further 20% by 2020. So would you open
a coffee shop that sells books or a bookshop that sells coffee?

A further example
of how market trends have changed well established markets is in the off
licence sector, where the supermarkets have come in and not only wiped out much
of the previous retail space, but also have actually expanded and grown the
market. When supermarkets first started selling petrol it looked obvious and
was restricted to their out of town supermarket locations, but now some have
taken their supermarket offer to the garage forecourt and taken over independent
stations which are convenience stores that sell petrol and this has enabled
them to grow their convenience business and opened new locations miles from
their supermarkets.

Just focusing on
books is obviously a very limited consumer offer. Just selling new books could
be terminal.

2 comments:

There's a great deal of common sense here - the best bookshops I've ever been in were those with 'add-ons' - from a minsicule one on Mull to a converted cinema in Waterford. Waterstones may be moving to this model - but the recent edict to ban author signings in store is a retrograde step.

thank you and i would suggest reading a couple of books. One is the Life and Times of Robert Dodsley who was the owner of Tullys Head in the 18th century and start to redefine Bookselling and realised the power if copyright as he moved more to wards what we recognise today as publishing. The other book is by Thomas Joy and was published in 1964 and is called The TRuth about Bookselling. The Joy book describes an era when booksellers were struggling, was pre the aggressive chains, out of town outlets, was at a time the NBA was sanctioned and Booksellers needed to adapt to survive.Interesting how what goes around comes around.

About Me

Before entering publishing I worked for many years as a Senior Executive in blue chip organisations in the retail, oil and automotive sectors. My publishing induction was initially as Director of Strategic Development at VISTA. There I was responsible for, and a contributor to, their highly acclaimed ‘Publishing in the 21st Century’ research series, the primary creator behind publishing services PubEasy and ‘batch.co.uk’, the initiator of the development of new Front Office systems to support publishers. In 2006 I joined Value Chain International(VCIL) initially as VP Marketing, Media and Publishing before becoming their President in 2009. In July 2011 the company's operations were acquired by Syncordia. I hold two non executive positions with publishing industry players Bibliophile Ltd and Haven Group and currently setting up Read Petite a service focused on providing digital short form material online via subscription.
Email mdaniels@opus57.co.uk